Xenophobia in the headlines: an analysis of news media coverage of the Xenophobic protests in Jeppestown, South Africa in 2019
Date
2021
Authors
Fickling, Briony Lee
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Abstract
The news media craft and contribute to discourse relating to xenophobia. This discourse
can challenge, transform or reinforce beliefs and behaviours, impacting the insecurity and
precarity of African foreigners living in South Africa. This case study explores the nature
of balance in the media coverage of violent xenophobic protests in Jeppestown,
Johannesburg, in September 2019. The study contributes to existing research on news
media coverage of xenophobia, examining the media content produced and assessing
the implications of imbalance. A qualitative content analysis on 60 news articles published
about the Jeppestown protests examines the aspects of balanced news reporting as it
relates to context and analysis, news framing, and representation.
The research shows that this media coverage contained little context and analysis of the
protests. The limited representation of the protestors and victims was framed by a
dominant criminality narrative, with language reinforcing the othering of foreigners. The
implications of this media approach are far-reaching. It erases the personal experience,
history, politics, and complexities of xenophobia. It also obscures the prevalence of
xenophobia in contemporary South Africa, reinforcing and legitimising beliefs that
underpin the severe marginalisation of African immigrants in South Africa.
Conversely, the study also highlights the benefits of balanced news media coverage that
represents events and individuals accurately and fairly, brings different perspectives to
the fore, and grapples with the complexities of the Jeppestown protests and xenophobia
in general. As part of this, the case study considers the challenges – because of how
media production influences which news is published, balance is interpreted differently
as worldviews differ, and the media are inconsistently impartial regarding human rights
issues – in instituting balance in the media
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Masters in Development Studies in the Faculty of Humanities, School of Social Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, 2021